Roll-on applicators are well known in the art. Usually, said applicators are containers comprising a hollow body for liquids, a ball and a retaining support means for said ball. These roll-on applicators generally allow to apply a liquid film from the inside of the hollow body to a selected surface. The common problem of these is to avoid leakage or spillage of the contained liquid during the periods of non-use of said roll-on applicators. The prior art solves this problem using the cooperation of a cap. Indeed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,328, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,494, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,495, U.S. Pat. No. 4,475, 837 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,051, 017, the ball is forced to engage and bear against a sealing surface of said retaining support means when the container is closed by the cap. But this solution to avoid leakage or spillage is inconvenient, if the above retaining support means with the ball is located under the level of the content. Indeed, leakage or spillage may occur during the operation of unscrewing the cap. For this reason, the roll-on applicator of the prior art usually has the retaining support means for the ball on top of the corresponding container above the level of the content when said container is stored in its upright position.
EP-A-0 575 714, for example, describes a circular-sectioned applicator rotating about the axis defined by opposite pins engaged in the rim of an orifice. The liquid detergent has to be poured through the orifice before being intercepted by said applicator. Therefore, leakage or spillage is prevented only by the fact that said orifice is located above the level of the contained liquid detergent. This example shows that in the art of roll-on applicating means exists the need of a leakage- or spillage-free solution ensured without a cap.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a container with a roll-on applicating means which is leak-tight when the cap is off or when said container does not comprise a cap and when the liquid is above said roll-on applicating means.
Another disadvantage of the roll-on applicators of the prior art is given by the fact that the spread quantity cannot be increased. Instead, the prior art only teaches a decrease of said spread quantity. Indeed, the roll-on applicating means described in the above mentioned prior art can force the ball to engage and bear against a sealing surface of said retaining support means to decrease or stop completely the flow of the content on said ball. The inverse is never possible. On the contrary, an increased spread quantity is useful especially during pretreatment. Indeed, different stains may need a greater amount of liquid detergent for a more effective pretreatment. For example, stains made of certain constituents may need a greater quantity of detergent to get a more thorough and effective pretreatment. A greater quantity may also be needed to simply cover the dimension of the stain itself.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a container with roll-on applicating means allowing to increase the product flow from the interior.